What experience do you have working on or with a strategic Board of Directors? 

I’ve served on a number of strategic boards, both as a member and a leader, including at Boston Children’s Hospital, at a hospital spin-out company, at AUTM, at Massachusetts based tech transfer organizations and in my volunteer work.  Specifically, I sit on Boston Children’s Hospital’s Strategic Capital Investments & Business Initiatives Executive Committee, a board that oversees the hospital’s investments in strategic initiatives.  I was the president of the Massachusetts Association of Technology Transfer Organizations (MATTO), an organization that supports the tech transfer community in Massachusetts via advocacy, education and community building.  I was a founding chair of T3 (Tiny Tech Transfer), an organization supporting small tech transfer offices in New England.  I held a board seat on Claritas Genomics, a hospital spin-out company, where we focused on an exit strategy for the company.  And I’ve been both a member and a chair of my local public school parent committees.

Please include a brief description of your volunteer experiences within AUTM. 

As a long-term active member of AUTM, I have been a frequent speaker, panelist, author and most recently podcast guest. I have organized panels and participated in special interest groups and served as the Assistant Vice President, Finance, from 2012-2014.

Why do you want to join the AUTM Board of Directors? 

My career in technology transfer has been long, diverse and full of fun.  I’ve worked at the largest and smallest universities (MIT, Brandeis University), held leadership roles at academic medical centers (Harvard Medical School Teaching Hospitals: Mass General Brigham and currently as VP Technology Development & New Ventures at Boston Children’s Hospital), and launched proof-of-concept programs across this range of institutions.  Joining the AUTM board will allow me to give back to a profession which has brought me tremendous career satisfaction, bring my deep knowledge and unique perspective to the board and fully represent the breadth of our membership, including the vital 20% that work in tech transfer offices in non-university settings such as hospitals, research institutions and federal labs.

Non-university tech transfer offices account for nearly 20% of the AUTM membership and a corresponding percentage of research expenditures (per 2022 AUTM survey data).  The AUTM board should mirror the make-up of our membership, including this vibrant 20%, in our educational offerings, our career development programs and our advocacy.  Every AUTM member should know that you can have an incredible career working at academic medical centers, connecting directly to the mission of patient care, wrestling with the issues of patient data (and AI!) and working with the unique phenotype of the physician-scientist. As a board member, I would make sure that AUTM appreciates the impact of research coming out of the non-university sector and that our membership is supported in the unique challenges of managing innovation in student-free, physician-led environments.  And I would ensure that the hospital voice is part of our advocacy work. Hospitals are often beloved local institutions that touch the lives of almost every member of their communities.  In my case, working at Boston Children’s Hospital means that almost every parent in the greater Boston/New England area has been touched by the hospital, whether their child came for stitches or for serious complex care.  That includes every politician, venture capitalist, philanthropist and leader of industry as well as members of our local community.  When we advocate for our profession, we need to be sure the voice of the hospitals is at the table and that our politicians, donors and supporters understand our role in the innovation ecosystem.

AUTM has been a steady presence in my life since I attended one of the original AUTM licensing courses early in my career.  It was through AUTM that I discovered I wasn’t just working in an interesting office at MIT, but that I was part of a growing and vibrant profession.  I want to join the board to ensure that AUTM continues to provide a wonderful professional home for all our members.

Have you served in a volunteer leadership role for other organizations? If so, please explain. 

I have held leadership roles in professional and community-based volunteer organizations. These include the following professionally related roles: president of the Massachusetts Association of Technology Transfer Offices (MATTO), an organization that supports the tech transfer community in Massachusetts, via advocacy, education and community building; and co-founder of T3 (Tiny Tech Transfer), an organization dedicated to building community among the small tech transfer offices in New England. In my community-based work, I have served as the Program Chair of the Innovation Fund, an organization that raises money to allow local high school teachers to spend time focusing on creative curriculum, and I have been the co-chair of the Choice Program, a local elementary school parent organization that worked with the school administration and the local school committee to advocate for our school’s needs.

If elected by the Membership to the Board, would you consider serving as Chair? Please explain. 

If elected to the Board, I would be happy to consider serving as Chair. A well-run board is critical to AUTM’s success and I would be pleased to play a leadership role. I’ve had experience participating in and running a number of non-profit boards and would bring those experiences to the Chair position, if asked.

Please share personal strengths that you believe would be valuable to the AUTM Board and/or the strategic direction of the Association. 

I have thrived in academic technology transfer because I am both grounded in the fundamentals of the profession and have the vision and the drive to implement strategic growth. I am a strong communicator, a community builder and an educator. I believe deeply in the mission of AUTM and the importance of the profession. I would bring a deep understanding of the profession, and a breadth of experiences and would ensure that the voice of the non-university technology transfer professionals was part of the strategic thinking of the board.

What special experience do you have in driving and implementing a strategic plan? 

The key to strategic planning is to understand the current state of an organization and to have a strong vision for the future. My most extensive strategic planning experience has been with my office at Boston Children’s Hospital. I worked with my office leadership team to put together a plan to better serve the faculty and increase our impact. This involved getting hospital leadership’s support to raise the salaries and titles of the staff and to raise funds ($10M) to start a therapeutic accelerator. The success of this strategic planning required the communication of a clear vision, buy-in from a broad constituency, fundraising and implementation. I’ve also had experience with strategic planning in my volunteer work. As Program Chair of the Innovation Fund at the local high school, we worked with grantees and school administration to create a strategic plan to increase the number and quality of grants proposals. As a result, we received a robust number of proposals during my term.

How do terms of  the position (both responsibilities and time commitment) fit with your other responsibilities? Will you have any conflicts of commitment between your full-time position and your volunteer time on the AUTM Board? 

I have a busy office with a great leadership team, and I have the full support of my supervisors to take on a board role, so I am confident I will be able to fulfill the requirements of the board responsibilities along with my full-time role at Boston Children’s.

AUTM is committed to addressing issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion both on the Board and on behalf of our Members. Briefly describe how your experiences can contribute to the Association’s growth in this area.

I oversee a very diverse tech transfer office and have had success attracting and growing a diverse leadership team. I would bring this experience and my learnings to the board and ensure we focus on expanding the diversity of our membership and of the board.

Advocacy for the innovation ecosystem is something AUTM has promoted recently.  How do you think AUTM should continue to be involved? 

Our profession is dependent in many ways on local and federal laws and policies, from Bayh-Dole, through federal and state funding, as well as through patent and commercial law. Because we are so closely intertwined with public policy, it is critical that AUTM continue to play a role in advocacy and to be sure our voice is at the table when important issues facing our profession are at stake.

Is there anything else you would like AUTM Members to know about you before they vote? 

While I’ve focused on my tech transfer experience in this board submission, I am also a world class multi-tasker. I’ve had a side career as a ceramic artist – selling my work around the country and teaching at local studios, and I’ve raised three sons who are now launching their own adult lives (yay!). As a recent empty nester, I have time to give back to the profession. I also love to cook (and eat), have become a late in life exercise fanatic (cycling, running and hot yoga), and I’ve been married for almost 30 years. And we have a wonderful pandemic puppy, Roby, a black lab who gets us up and out every morning.